Smith added: "It is a beautiful stadium in London where a lot of the foreign managers want to come and a lot of the foreign players want to come. I don't think that advantage is being exploited enough at the moment.

"But as a board they have to be looking at who might be available if Wenger does walk away."

Arsenal lost 3-1 to West Brom on Saturday, a result that saw them slip to sixth in the Premier League when Manchester United defeated Middlesbrough the following day.